Biography

Ben has extensive experience in quantum and nano-optics. He completed a PhD on the electro-optic control of quantum measurements in 2002 and took up a postdoctoral position at ETH Zurich working in the nano-optics group. During this time he used near-field scanning probe techniques to characterize photonic crystal waveguides and cavities, as well as perform measurements of single molecule fluorescence quantum efficiency.

Returning to ANU in 2006, he became a chief investigator in the ARC Centre for Quantum-Atom Optics and began working on quantum memory based on warm atomic vapour. A source of squeezed light compatible with the atomic system was also developed allowing experiments that probed the interaction of quantum entanglement with quantum memory. The ANU quantum memory team was a finalist in the 2011 Eureka Awards.

In 2010 Ben was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship which now supports his work on quantum memory within the Centre.

Research

Quantum memory for quantum communication technology

Ben is working towards the development of a quantum memory that will enable long distance quantum key distribution over lossy fibre networks. The approach is currently based on spin-echo techniques in warm rubidium vapour. This off-the-shelf memory platform currently has the highest storage efficiency of any quantum memory candidate as well as the ability to spectrally manipulate and rearrange the stored light pulses. The long term goal is to integrate this memory into a functional quantum repeater and linear optics quantum computing systems.